Business as usual over at Housewife Eclectic today -- come learn about Freecycle, a network of people who can help you get the things that you no longer want/need (but that still work) out of your life and into someone else's. One (wo)man's trash, you know. :)

Also, I'll be making the switch to .com later today: soon I'll be broadcasting live from iamjustlu.com! Everything should go smoothly, so you should be hearing from me again soon. If not... drop me a line at iamjustlu at gmail dot com. And thanks for reading!

Christmas is coming! The goose is getting fat and the crafters are getting frantic... If you need a cheap and easy craft for the toddler in your life, this felt activity board might be just the thing:

The same style as the felt game board, the activity board is geared to the younger set and features shapes and colors: matching on one side and a playmat on the other*. It also goes together MUCH more quickly -- once you have the pieces cut out, assembling the board takes around an hour.

Work on matching and fine motor skills by buttoning the matching shapes and/or letter(s):

And then engage in creative play by adding windows and door(s) to your house:

Store the pieces in the large button-closure pockets, and roll up the board for easy on-the-go playing (and learning) -- and hopefully a peaceful trip and waiting-room session. :)

*The matching side can also easily be made into a tic-tac-toe board like on the game board for an older, but not quite ready for checkers, child. And of course you could also change the playmat to feature whatever you wanted.

Can you believe it's only TEN days until Christmas? The panic has started to set in here... If you're also to the panic stage, get some help from Santa with a personalized video message and other fun resources -- get the links and see how (it's fast, easy, and FREE!) in my post over at Housewife Eclectic today.

**This is the tutorial that I shared for Haul out the Holly over at Gwenny Penny. Here it is again, just in case you missed it. These are fast, cheap, and easy so don't feel guilty adding them to your to-craft list ;)

Aside from a cheesy smile and, you know, necessary clothing, earrings are my favorite things to wear -- you can see my rock & roll earrings and tutorial here and today I'm sharing my quilled Christmas tree earrings. They're so simple to make and only take about half an hour, but I make them sound fancy by calling them filigree tannenbaums instead. ;)

If you've never heard of quilling, also called paper filigree, it's a simple but lovely concept: curled coils and scrolls of paper are joined together to form beautiful creations of all shapes and sizes. I began quilling (with these monograms) about six weeks ago, so I'm definitely still a beginner. But quilling is so easy that anyone can do it! I've decided that beginning quilling is more about patience than about actual talent (although there are many very talented quillers out there). :)

My tutorial today barely even skims the surface of quilling, but the lovely and kind Ann over at All Things Paper is a quilling master who provides fantastic inspiration and tutorials. If you'd like to continue quilling and start creating really beautiful and intricate designs like hers, Ann covers the quilling basics in this post on her blog.

Now... on to the earrings! I love the holidays, but I am terrible at holiday decorating -- {cringe} last year I didn't even pull our Christmas tree out of the box, shame on me and my lazy self. I get overwhelmed with all the beautiful decor options out there, so I love simple little touches that help put me and those I'm around into the holiday spirit.

These earrings are a little tidbit of holiday cheer for your everyday life from now until whenever you decide to stop wearing them! They're perfect for early holiday gifts and can easily be used, minus the earring fixings, for holiday cards, gift decorations and tags, or even ornaments to put on your Christmas tree.

Good day, friends! Thanks for all the kind feedback about the wooden spoon nativity! I've realized that the nativity is just not happening at my house in time for Christmas, but I wanted to post the instructions just in case some of you haven't overbudgeted your time like I have and therefore will have time to put this little number together for the current holiday season. :)

Unfortunately, getting the the tutorial now, before I make my own, means I have no process pictures. I have included a few finished-product pictures, however. The process is pretty simple, so I'll add pictures once I get mine made.

I saw them there as I was standing in line a few weeks ago. But instead of being like a normal person and saying, "Those are cute and $5 and I should buy some," I said to myself, "Those are cute and $5 and I can make them myself." And, I think I did a pretty good job:

obviously my photography skills are not quite as good, however...

Yes, I created an Old Navy knock-off. I am THAT cheap. Call me frugal if you like, but even this quiz tells me I'm frugal-bordering-cheap. What can I say -- I live on the edge. ;)

Actually, I don't think it's the cheap side of my personality that spurred this creation. It's the "I can make that" side of my personality. The two often partner for their crimes, however. The many, many crimes they commit...

But, I digress... back to the slipper socks. So, yes, I am cheap. I thought I could make a pair from a single pair of the dollar store fuzzy chenille type socks, but I underestimated the finickity (also called finickyness, just in case you were confused) of chenille material, especially dollar store chenille material.

Apparently chenille is a social character because it is much more manageable (at least for me) when there are two of itof them layers. Thus, one pair of maryjane slipper socks requires two pairs of dollar store chenille socks. But, even though that doubles the cost of the slipper socks it also gives them added value... so you CAN'T buy these in a store anywhere!*

*including, possibly, the original single-layer ones at Old Navy. And good luck finding chenille socks at the dollar store this time of year, too. I bought mine before the Christmas rush and now I can't find any more, at any dollar store, anywhere.

So, without further ado, I present to you the Yes I'm That Cheap BUT They Have Added Value MaryJane Slipper Socks Tutorial. (It's a working title...)

I'm trying out a new thing here, using a jump break so that my looong but detailed tutorials are a bit more manageable, especially for those of you using feed readers. Let me know what you think. :) (If you're coming straight to this post, you won't see anything special here. Except for my awesome maryjane slipper socks tutorial, of course.)

Char from Crap I've Made is hosting a nativity parade and I just *had* to join up to let this little lovely strut her stuff (I presume that all navities are female, yes?):

Isn't she cute?

Unfortunately, she was created in the days before I was 1) blogging about my creations and 2) competent at running my camera, so this is the only viable (non-blurry) picture. And you can't even see sweet baby Jesus.

Fortunately, however, she (and her sister) are housed at my mother's (and MIL's) so I can visit to hold a proper photo shoot. And I want to make one for myself this year, if I can escape from the throes of Santa's workshop long enough, so I could probably even provide a tutorial if y'all would like (which means I need you to tell me if you'd like that ;).

I participated for the first time in Linda's Handmade Gift Exchange over at Craftaholics Anonymous and I had so much fun!

Thanks to Linda for organizing such a fun exchange and for doing a wonderful job!

I sent my partner, Amy, two pairs of my rock and roll earrings (which I forgot to take pictures of before I sent... oops!) and a pair of these maryjane style slipper socks:

Yes... I created an Old Navy knock-off. Yes, I'm that cheap. Plus Old Navy is sold out. And these have the added benefit of being not only less expensive but also double-thick. :) Tutorial coming soon... probably early next week since I am in the midst of reorganizing pretty much my entire (little) house. The spring cleaning urge hit me a little late (or early?) this year. :)

I received Amy's package in the mail yesterday: this adorable and fun hat:

And here it is, modeled by the duck because I was pukey-sick all day yesterday and have no desire to preserve and display the look I have going right now. :)

Thanks, Amy! And if you're wondering and drooling and wanting one of your own, yes, she does have a website, still under construction.

If you missed this exchange, don't worry -- Linda will be hosting another one in July! You can come check out all of the fantastic exchange items in the linky party here.

Thanks again to Linda and Amy for a fantastic gift exchange! Merry Christmas!

Welcome to Wednesday! And December! It's the busy holiday season, but I hope you'll take a minute to pop over to Housewife Eclectic today to get to know a little bit more about my one true (feed reader) love, Feedly. It just might change your life. Or not. It's really up to you. :)